Like the best mysteries, Mare of Easttown kept fans guessing right up until the final episode. Set in a small, close-knit enclave outside of Philedelphia, the thriller starring Kate Winslet kept viewers glued to HBO Max week after week in the hopes of determining who killed Erin McMenamin. In the season finale, everything they'd come to view as irrefutable proof concerning a particular suspect was wrong, leaving them baffled, elated, and hungry for more.
Part of the fun of any whodunnit is deciphering the clues ahead of the crime being solved, but part of what made this series special was the fact that not only were there intriguing details fans might have missed that pointed to the finale's reveal, they also pointed to subtle character development and personal growth as Detective Mare Sheehan and her community collectively worked through their trauma.
10 Strike A Pose
Like similar shows, Mare of Easttown started with tension in the community surrounding the victim. Ever since fans observed the dynamics between Erin and her father, Kenny, they speculated about his capacity to kill his own daughter. When Kenny shot Dylan, fans knew he was perfectly capable of committing a heinous crime.
After presuming Dylan was dead in the woods, Kenny drank himself to sleep and was found the next morning sprawled in the same position his daughter was in when her body was discovered near the river. Her clothes were removed to confuse law and enforcement and make them associate her death with Katie's disappearance, but Kenny's clothed body found in the same position was a subtle way to make viewers assess the crime scene differently.
9 Silence Of The Lambs
From the unremittingly grim landscape of the rustbelt town to the fact that a female lead was trying to find missing girls possibly connected to a serial killer, Silence of the Lambs was an inspiration throughout the series, particularly in two instances. When Mare recounted the story of finding her son's body, she had a hard time lifting him because "he was so heavy, so heavy," echoing Clarice's story to Lecter of grabbing one lamb and trying to run with him but "he was so heavy, so heavy."
When Mare entered the attic of Wayne Pott's house brandishing her gun and searching for the missing girls, with Potts watching her every movement on his security cameras, it was just like Clarice Starling searching the basement of Buffalo Bill while he watched with his night vision goggles.
8 A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Early in the series, fans began to suspect that Frank not only might have had something to do with Erin's murder but possibly a sexual relationship with her. John Ross stuck up for him with a photograph he took of Frank passed out on the couch after his engagement party, when it would have been the perfect opportunity to pin the murder on him before he could be proved innocent.
John was clearly one of Mare of Easttown's most intelligent characters, finding a clever way to pin the murder on his own brother, but why not Frank? By taking the picture, John didn't just provide his friend Frank with an alibi, he provided one for himself. Furthermore, casting suspicions on Frank would have thrown doubt on other older men in his friendship circle.
7 A Rose By Any Other Name
Mare was an unusual name for Kate Winslet's character to have, and fans wondered whether it was her real name or a nickname. In the first few episodes, she drank from a coffee mug that mentioned "Maureen," which could have given them a hint. It could also be seen on the bench dedicated to her father where she and Lori sat in the park.
In the final episode, when the family was gathered at the restaurant, Mare's mother Helen finally addressed her by her real name, which some viewers might not have caught: Marianne. It's the second "Marianne" Winslet has played, including Marianne Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility.
6 Sides Of Mare
As one of the best characters on Mare of Easttown, Mare represented the sort of stalwart, no-nonsense, authentic person that viewers could relate to. She dressed for functionality instead of fashion; she didn't care if her hair was tidy; and she often ate on the go, making conversation through mouthfuls of cheesesteak sandwiches.
Mare's unkempt appearance for most of the series was important to contrast against what she presented in her past. During a visceral flashback scene involving Carrie and Kevin, Mare is dressed much more like a typical "suburban mom," sporting freshly dyed hair, makeup, and nicer clothing. The scene wasn't long, but it established that after Kevin's death, Mare stopped caring how she looked.
5 Watch Children
The reveal of the killer in the final episode of the season shocked many viewers. Looking back, though, there might have been one clue that indicated who Erin's murderer would turn out to be. When Mare was driving through Easttown, her eyes lingered on the yellow sign that read, "watch children."
Granted, Mare's investigation did draw her attention to older teens like Dylan, Jess, and any of their peers who had something to do with Erin's death, but the sign early in the series indicated an aspect of the community Mare wasn't considering.
4 A Change Of Heart
From the moment viewers encountered Ryan Ross, the boy was seen to be sullen, monosyllabic, and not Mare of Easttown's most likable character. Watching his scenes specifically, fans could begin to piece together the profile of someone with inner turmoil and, perhaps, a closely guarded secret.
Ryan was dealing with a trauma that festered to such an extent that he was capable of committing terrible violence, but by the end, when he was in a juvenile detention facility, he was smiling for perhaps the first time in the entire series after finally being able to admit the crime that had been eating away at him on the inside.
3 The Smoking Gun
When Glen Carroll invited Mare to his house to report some missing objects, he stated that his gun had gone missing from his work shed, specifically on the night of Erin's murder. He knew that Ryan, the only other person to have the keys, had gone into his shed late one night, because he made a point of checking the status of the revolver he kept there. He noticed it was missing for the couple of hours when Ryan used it to frighten Erin, and that it had been returned afterward.
Carroll knew the gun had gone missing not for days but for hours — he also knew who was responsible for taking it — long before he was beset with grief over his wife's death. Yet in all the time during Mare's investigation, he never came forward. It's one of many loose ends that indicate Mare of Easttown needs a second season.
2 The Color Of DJ's Hair
DJ was more than just a baby — finding out who his father was could have led to Erin's killer. While everyone in Easttown was questioning his paternity, no one brought up his bright red hair despite the fact that both Erin and Dylan had dark hair. Their genetic makeup didn't preclude him from having ginger-colored hair, provided each of their grandparents had it.
In many ways, the color of DJ's hair should have been an indicator of whose child he was. While it might have been Danny (Mare's cousin and the local priest), there was another candidate whose reddish hair could be glimpsed amid the grey.
1 Lack Of A Lawyer
Throughout Mare's investigation, almost every other teen questioned at the Easttown station demanded to have a lawyer present, but Ryan Ross had no defense at his side when he was confessing his crime.
The presence of an attorney could have made all the difference between Ryan spending five years in prison or 25. In a murder investigation, it seems highly unlikely that Mare wouldn't suggest he have a lawyer or that Lori wouldn't demand one in the interest of helping her son make a better plea bargain.
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July 31, 2021 at 12:00AM
